4/8 Recap: Knapp knocked out; OHL duo moves on

Connor Knapp earned the start for Miami Thursday, stopping six of nine shots in limited duty as the RedHawks saw their season close with a 7-1 loss to Boston College at the NCAA Frozen Four in Detroit. Knapp, who was seeing his first "front end" action of the season after serving the entire year as "Mr. Saturday Night", surrendered three goals on nine shots before getting the hook with 16:52 to play in the second period. After scoring on the power play near the end of the first period, the speedy Eagles came out of the gates in the second with another power play goal at 2:06 before forcing Knapp out with an even strength tally a minute later. The 6'5 sophomore finishes the season 10-4-4 with a 1.97 goals against average and .921 save percentage.

On Wednesday, Zack Kassian assisted on a Greg Nemisz goal with :38 to play then helped set up the eventual game winner as Windsor forced OT and eeked out a 3-2 victory over Plymouth to sweep their OHL Western Conference semifinal with four straight wins. Kassian, still showing signs of freshness after sitting for 20 regular season games, was a definite factor in the Spits dominance with his physical presence and ability to get pucks to the net. The 6'3 banger piled up four assists in the series to up his line to 2+6=8 in eight postseason games while displaying the hard nosed traits that made him a first round draft pick . The Spits will look to maintain their intensity when they battle the winner of the Kitchener/London series in the conference finals beginning next week.

Also on Wednesday, Nick Crawford continued his steady play with an assist and a +2 rating as Barrie closed out their Eastern Conference semifinal with a 5-2 win over Brampton. The left-side rearguard has racked up eight assists in as many post-season games leading up to the Colts match-up with either Ottawa or Mississauga-St. Mikes in the conference final.

Related Post

Author

Kris Baker was raised in a hockey rink. When you were watching Star Wars, he was watching Peter Puck. Bakes' favorite food is chicken soup from the vending machine, and he'd register a Zamboni with the DMV if allowed.